Both gold and silver have performed well this year as news of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank made headlines. Silver is off to its best start to a year in thirty four years. Gold ended the week at $1294.80 and silver steadied at $18.34.

Like gold, silver will benefit from stimulus measures but its added strength will be the increasing demand in global industrial sectors. Estimates for growth in silver consumption range from 600 to 700 million ounces by 2020. Silver demand in 2013 reached 538 million ounces setting another yearly demand record.

Silver is an essential component in most industries and is used in sectors from medicine to the automotive industry. Over 36 million ounces of silver are used each year in the automotive industry alone. All switches and contacts in new cars are coated with silver including the lines we see in many rear windows. These are silver ceramic lines that have been fired into the glass and they generate enough heat to melt rear window frost and ice. Silver is an excellent source for electrical conductivity making it a natural and cost effective choice for industry.

Silver is also available for a precious metals IRA. Many bars and coins are available dependent on fineness requirements. The Silver American Eagle and the Silver Canadian Maple Leaf are the two most popular choices for U.S. investors. Both coins are available at exceptional value but the latter offers the most bang for the buck. The Silver Maple Leaf is minted at .9999 purity and the Silver American Eagle is .999 purity. The Silver Maple Leaf is also generally offered at a lower premium making the decision a simple choice for investors.

There has never been a better time to invest in silver for one primary reason. Silver remains available below production costs. The idea that one can purchase silver at less than it cost the producer to mine it sounds absurd but it is actually true. Business sense tells us that mining companies will not continue producing silver at a loss. An upswing in prices is coming despite the attempts by bullion bankers to suppress both gold and silver prices.

If you are concerned that your IRA may fall victim to stock markets where fraud is rule of the day, contact us and we will move forward quickly in securing your wealth. Unlike stocks and the U.S. dollar, physical silver and other precious metals will never be worth nothing.